Notes from My Captivity

May 1, 2018

Gr 10 Up-Adrienne Cahille has one goal in mind when she accompanies her step-father Dan, a single-minded academic, on a trip to Siberia. Dan is determined to find the Osimovs, a family who had disappeared into the wilderness 30 years before and have gained almost mythic status, and in doing so regain his reputation. Adrienne is seeking a story for her college admission and emulating a journalist she admires in the hope that she can prove Dan's faith is sadly misplaced. The story takes a sharp turn when the group runs into a tragic situation and Adrienne's only hope for escape means forming a relationship with a member of the very family she had always considered a fairy tale. This is a survival story that will take readers by surprise, given that it starts with a somewhat petulant protagonist who then loses almost everyone around her. Offering danger, romance, and a few ghosts, this is a trip that will capture readers' attention. Language and sexual situations make this suitable for older teens. VERDICT A fast-paced read for fans of survival fiction with well-developed characters. A strong purchase for most YA collections.-Betsy Fraser, Calgary Public Library, Alta.

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Starred review from May 1, 2018
In 1987, Muscovites Grigor and Nika Osinov vanished amid whispers of sorcery.Over the summer, 17-year-old aspiring journalist Adrienne Cahill is accompanying her stepfather, Dan, an anthropologist, to Siberia to search for the mysterious couple, rumored to now have several children. Unlike Dan, whose belief in the Osinovs borders on religious fervor, hardcore skeptic Adrienne is certain they're just a legend--and an article disproving their existence is sure to earn her a college scholarship. However, in the middle of the trip, devastating and shocking events turn Adrienne into a believer. After she's captured by the Osinovs, she promises herself she will make it back home, and she sets her escape plan in motion: Make the younger Osinov brother, Vanya, fall in love with her and take her back to civilization. Over time, the pair bond, and Adrienne inevitably falls in love with him. She also falls in love with the rest of the family: tough-as-nails matriarch, Nika; Vanya's sweet-tempered sister, Clara; and brooding elder brother, Marat. Can Adrienne convince them to let her go? Does Adrienne's rescue necessarily mean the Osinovs' discovery? Is there truth to the stories about their mystical powers? Elements of magical realism give the story a dreamlike quality, while Adrienne's wickedly sarcastic sense of humor keeps the story grounded in reality. Whiteness is assumed.Haunting. Mesmerizing. Completely unforgettable. (Fiction. 13-adult)

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May 21, 2018
When aspiring journalist Adrienne, 17, is given the opportunity to travel to Siberia with her recently disgraced stepfather, an anthropology professor, she hopes to both debunk a myth that her stepfather holds dearly and write an article that will get her into the college of her dreams. The two-week adventure goes horribly awry, however, after Adrienne, her stepfather, and their crew find the Osinovs, a Russian family who fell off the grid 30 years earlier. When the rest of her party is killed in a boating accident on a river and Adrienne is injured, she is taken in by the mysterious, wild family. Fearing for her life, Adrienne is forced to rethink all of her beliefs. Parks (The Lifeboat Clique) creates an inventive, multilayered tale about family, faith, mysticism, and survival, offering harrowing life-or-death adventure, as well as robust characters as memorable as they are unique. While Parks’s story leans heavily on the idea of an afterlife, she does not linger on the question of religion or God, allowing readers to draw their own conclusions. Ages 13–up.